So we were watching 60 Minutes last night and there was a segment about the making of “Lincoln.” There was much said about the attention to getting all the details correct: the right wallpaper, the right clothes, making the actors involved look like their historical counterparts–Spielberg even recorded the ticking of Lincoln’s pocket watch and used it for the film (though not the actual watch).

Being a history nerd, this attention to detail pleases us. But then we thought–how come when Stephen Spielberg does it, and it involves Serious Historical Personages, attention to period detail is a good thing, but when it comes to Jane Austen movies, attention to period detail is dismissed as “twee” and “chocolate-box?”

(We really are interested in your opinions, Gentle Readers.)